


Friends

by LostInHerThoughts



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:41:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5021494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInHerThoughts/pseuds/LostInHerThoughts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kelley prides herself on being a good friend. She’s loyal, an understanding shoulder to cry on, and she’ll have her baseball bat ready when she finds out the heart breaker's name. But good friends don’t wanna jump their friend’s bones … especially when they just got divorced. And especially when that friend is very, very straight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The List

**Author's Note:**

> How the 2015 WWC should have went down

Kelley prides herself on being a good friend.

She’s loyal, an understanding shoulder to cry on, and she’ll have her baseball bat ready when she finds out the heart breaker's name.

But good friends don’t wanna jump their friend’s bones … especially when they just got divorced.

And especially when that friend is very, very straight.

So when the rooming list is thrusted into her hands by a very excited Kling, Kelley doesn’t know if she should be thankful or jump in front of this damn bus.

**Wambach**

**Harris & Krieger **

**Rampone & Boxx **

**Sauerbrunn & Naeher **

**Klingenberg & Brian **

**Johnston & Press **

**Engen & Chalupny **

**Holiday & Rodriguez **

**O’Reilly & Heath **

**Rapinoe & Leroux **

**Solo & Lloyd **

**Morgan & O’Hara **

Jill stood at the front of the bus with a small smile on her lips. “Ladies listening up. As the rooming list goes around, we’ve decided to pair you up as you probably would if it were your own decision because you’ve all worked very hard in these last months and to continue the hard work. That’s all.”

A pinching on her arm caused Kelley to snap her head back at Syd. “Pass it back.”

Sighing, Kelley hovered the paper above her head for her to snatch.

“Pinoe !!” She hollered and Kelley almost forgot about her current predicament as she smiled when Megan did a fist bump in their direction.

From across the aisle, Tobin nodded at her. “Who’d you get?”

Her eyes drifted towards Alex, who was seated in the window spot next to Tobin.

The midfielder seemed to understand who Kelley was gesturing to and grimaced at her friend sympathetically, also aware of Kelley’s predicament. “It’s only a couple weeks.”

Shaking her head, Kelley leaned back in her seat.

She could survive a couple weeks.


	2. Wake Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living arrangements come to light.

By the time Kelley makes it up to the room, there’s a shoe jammed in between the door and the wall so that she doesn’t need to use her key card to enter. A card that she’s lacking.

Reaching down to take it out, Kelley wheels her suitcase through the entrance. Alex is flopped down face into the mattress with a sneaker clad foot hanging off the side of the bed.

“If you’re dead it’s probably because the serial killer didn’t have much trouble getting through the open door.”

The forward merely groans into the pillows suffocating her face and turns her head to face Kelley. “Sorry, I forgot to give you your key card. You took off pretty quickly once we got here.” She avoids Alex’s questioning tone with a hum and bows her head to pull off her own shoes.

Flopping onto her back, Kelley stares up at the ceiling.

“Are you ok?”

Kelley turns her head towards her. Alex’s eyes are tired from the travelling but mostly just sad and Kelley scolds herself for being so weird about this. “I should be asking you that.”

Alex just shrugs and pushes her face back in to the pillows.

The room goes silent after that, with the exception of their breathing and Kelley knows that’s all their going to say to each other for the rest of the night. She reaches over to the night side table between their beds and clicks off the light.

At 3 am when Alex’s quiet sobs rouse her from her slumber, Kelley wordlessly walks the 3 steps between their beds and holds her until they both fall asleep.

* * *

She doesn’t remember setting an alarm or putting her phone on loud, so when the ringing won’t stop at what has to be the ass crack of dawn Kelley is ready to rip someone’s head off.

Right when she’s about to throw off the covers, there’s a mumble atop her bra clad chest. “Turn it off Kel.”

Waking up without a shirt on is not what she envisioned when she climbed into Alex’s bed last night and when Alex turns her head to look at her with sleepy eyes Kelley hopes to god that she can’t feel the hammering of her heart if it’s not already thumping loud enough for her to hear.

Kelley hasn’t move a millimeter since she’s heard Alex’s voice so the forward rolls her eyes and reaches over her to answer the phone on the bedside table. “Hello?”

At this angle, Alex is half on top of her making Kelley flush a deep shade of red she usually can only accomplish after a long day of training. They’re so close that Kelley could make out the words coming from the other end which Alex is probably also aware of, as a blush covers her cheeks.

“Good morning Ms. O’hara, we’ve been asked to ring you for a ten a.m. wake up call by Jill Ellis.” The hotel employee hangs up before any of them can say anything.

And if Alex wasn’t just recently divorced or if Kelley wasn’t in love with her best friend, it would be funny.

But Alex is Ms. Morgan and Kelley couldn’t be with her girlfriend while she was pinning over a team mate so they’re stuck in this hotel room not even 2 inches away from each other blushing. And Kelley’s about to say something but the words die in her throat when Alex’s eyes drift to the clock with a sigh. “We should probably get ready. It’s … ten thirty.”

Kelley’s still stuck in her place as Alex’s shirt hits the ground before entering the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm new on archive so if you have any suggestions or questions feel free to ask !!


	3. Rainy Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The road to victory isn't all sunshine and smiles, literally.

When they train outdoors for the first time it’s 20 Celsius.

Even Kelley will admit, it is a little chilly but being in Jersey for the last couple months has made her adapt to the cool weather pretty quickly.

But for the rest of the team, not so much.

Their usual 11 v 11 was reduced to 6 on 6 as most of the girls huddled under the small tent the staff had put up earlier that afternoon.

“Ladies, we still have 10 minutes!” Jill yelled over the pitch.

“Easy for her to say, she’s wearing a wind breaker with a clip board over her head.” Christen mumbled under her breath.

Next to her, Ali slapped her arm with her mouth agape. “We played in Sweden!”

Before Christen could rebuttal, Julie fumbled with her zipper next to her. “Here, take mine. It doesn’t have a hood though.”

The tanned girl blushed as Julie wrapped the sweater around her. “Thanks.”

A smile graced Julie’s features before her lips pulled back to reveal her mischievous grin and pulled on Christen’s sleeve. “Now we can play scrimmage.”

The team chuckled as Julie pulled her from the tent and onto the muddy field.

“You should go get your boots muddy too superstar.” Sydney nudged Alex forward playfully with her hip.

Alex rolled her eyes playfully and nudged her back. “How’s the knee?”

“What’s wrong with my knee?” Syd gaped dramatically with a hand on her mouth, the ring on her finger hitting Alex like a ton of bricks.

Watching Alex’s eyes widen, she shoved her hand back into her coat pocket. “I’m sorry Alex, I forgot.”

But the emotions were already clouding her mind when she stepped on to the field, her brows furrowed and heart clenched.

* * *

Against Australia, Sydney takes Alex's place as a starter. It's not until the 79' the board displays 13 for 2.

Kelley doesn't get any minutes.

 


	4. Not Your Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The match against Sweden was tough on everyone

Sweden is a tough team, they all know it.

Pia knows them like the back of her hand and has her team attack their weak sides. She’s completely remodelled her coaching style around a new technique the US side just can’t shut down.

Going into half time 0-0 is considered a victory but it’s still not enough and Jill does a great job of reminding them.

Kelley takes it bitterly, her laces aren’t even tied. It’s not like she’s gonna get any minutes in the second half anyway.

This system the coaching staff has right now isn’t working. They’re experimenting and it’s not working.

The situation makes Kelley want to yell and throw things but it’s early in the tournament which means plenty of chances for them to get it together but if they can’t even get through this group stage none of that will matter.

Pia would have played her by now.

* * *

 

_That night_

After the game, Kelley walks into the room finding Alex sitting on the bed with bottle of Jack.

They’re not supposed to be drinking for the whole duration of the tournament but Kelley doesn’t say anything because she didn’t get any minutes and Alex hasn’t scored either.

Instead she sits next to Alex with her hand outstretched towards the bottle.

* * *

 

_2 hours later_

“How’s Ann?” Alex asks her sleepily after they’ve finished the whole bottle together.

The question makes the air feel thicker, suffocating her underneath the covers of their blanket fort. Makes the already short distance between their bodies seem nonexistent.

“We broke up.” The crack in her voice is unavoidable and Kelley has to clear her throat to appear normal from the unexpected question.

Alex turns on to her side to face Kelley, squeezing one of her hands. “I’m sorry.”

And as much as Kelley tells herself not to in her head, she can’t help but turn to look into Alex’s smoldering eyes.

At that moment, she almost closes the distance between them. Almost presses her lips to Alex’s for the first time underneath a blanket fort.

But she doesn’t.

Doesn’t kiss Alex in the blanket fort, doesn’t tell Alex that her girlfriend constantly asked her if she was the one Kelley was in love with when they were together.

Because they’re drunk and Alex will probably freak out in the morning if they do anything.

“Not your fault.” Kelley mumbles.


	5. Benched ... again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe it was Alex's fault

Looking back, finishing the whole bottle together after a game was a terrible idea.

The next morning, a banging on the door wakes them up from their tangle of arms and legs. Kelley nor Alex barely have to time to be flustered about it with the way their head’s throb and stomach flip.

Kelley’s standing up first – barely, and pulls the door open to find Jill looking back at her with her arms crossed and lips pursed.

“Oh I’m sorry, did I wake you two? Or were you just going to sleep through the whole morning?!”

She can’t help it, Kelley’s eyes squeeze shut at the volume of Jill’s voice. The action is enough to deepen the crease in Jill’s forward when she realizes the reason two of her players slept through the team’s meeting.

Behind her, Alex stumbles out from beneath the blankets to stand next to Kelley. “We’re sorry Jill, it won’t happen again.”

With a sigh, the coach rubs her forehead. “I’m disappointed in you two, you girls know the rules.”

Out of her peripheral, Kelley noticed the way Alex’s head falls and she can’t help it.

“It was my idea, Alex shouldn’t be punished.” Kelley blurts.

“Kelley – ” Alex’s hand is warm on her arm and if she wasn’t hung over or about to be roasted by Jill, Kelley would have blushed.

When Jill looks at her with pursed lips – questioning if she’s telling the truth, and a part of Kelley knows Jill can tell she’s lying.

“Alright then, Kelley you’ll be sitting out against Nigeria. Alex, we’ll talk about your conditions at dinner.” With that, Jill turns away from them and disappears down the hallway.

It’s Alex who closes the door, Kelley still standing in her place. Breaking the rules would result in being benched but Jill had always favoured her and she was doing really well at practice.

And in that moment, Kelley is angry. Angry at Jill for benching her, angry at Alex for making her lie, angry at herself for loving Alex.

* * *

 

“Are you gonna eat that?” Kling leans over her, pointing at her broccoli with her fork.

She’s been pushing the food around her plate for what has to be the last 20 minutes but Kelley doesn’t really feel hungry. “Take it.”

With the go ahead, Kling pierces the vegetable and pops it into her mouth.

“It’s not gonna help you grow anymore.” Julie snickered a couple seats down the table which resulted in Christen swatting her arm, wiping the grin off the defender’s face.

In the seat next to her, Christen pats her back and leans in close so that no one else at the table can hear her words. “Let’s talk outside.”

With a sigh, Kelley pushes her plate towards Kling and stands up with Christen.

Julie sits up straighter in her chair, looking worriedly at them. Leaning down, the tanned forward presses a kiss to her cheek before leaving with Kelley.

Catching up to Kelley, Christen rolled her eyes at the whipping sound and banging against their table.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the long wait


	6. Slippery When Wet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhm I can't really explain this one

“Why’d you have to do that Kel?” Christen groaned after Kelley retold the events from that morning.

Kelley raised her hands in surrender. “I was hung over, I wasn’t thinking straight. And then she got upset and I had to.”

Remaining silent, Christen looked over at her best friend.

“My life would be a whole lot easier if I wasn’t in love with her.” Kelley muttered with her head in her hands.

Dropping her gaze, Christen chewed on her lip as she contemplated telling Kelley something.

“When we played Portland in late April, she asked about you.”

Kelley froze at the statement, swallowing the lump in her throat. Her head lifted from its place in her hands and she turned her head towards Christen, her silence a sign to continue.

With a sigh, Christen finished the rest of the story. “I heard rumors about her and Servando separating and I asked her if they were true. She shook it off and asked how you were. If you were still seeing Ann.”

Laughing humorously, Kelley shook her head. “That doesn’t mean she’s not straight Press.”

The laughter died in her throat when Christen delivered a tough punch to her arm. “Ow! How do you get so jacked from yoga?”

The joke earned her another punch, perhaps even harder than the first one.

“If I got Julie to switch teams, you can get Alex waiving the rainbow flag from the rooftops with a smile.

* * *

 

Music blaring into her ears, Kelley swiped her key card into the slot before walking into the hotel room.

After talking with Christen, she really needed to release the stress with some running and strength training to cool down.

She crossed the room to pick up a bottle of shampoo from her suitcase and pushed open the bathroom door only to stop dead in her tracks.

In the bath tub, Alex’s neck was craned upwards with her arm crossed over her stomach reaching below the surface of the water.

Even with the bubbles floating atop the water, what was happening underneath was pretty obvious.

The sound of Kelley’s shampoo bottle hitting the ground with a bounce caused the two women to lock eyes, Alex sitting up in the tub.

Seeing the heat in Alex’s cheeks travel down her neck and chest, Kelley turned around immediately and ran out of the bathroom with her earphones blocking out Alex’s words.

Forget the shower, she needed an ice bath.


	7. Wet Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knocking isn't really a thing

A hand pressed against the door to prevent her from opening it as the earphones were yanked out of her ears.

“Kelley.” Alex said her name breathlessly behind the shorter woman.

Breathing deeply, Kelley tried to calm her racing heart. Her hands cringed at her sides to ease the churning of her stomach and heat in her cheeks. She knew that if she turned around she would end up giving in.

But she had no choice as Alex’s hands took hold of hers, turning her around to face the forward. Eyes closed, Kelley allowed herself to be moved by the firm grasp.

Her feet shuffled forward when Alex pulled her back into the center of the room. When Kelley opened her eyes to avoid anything to trip on she gulped at the dark smile on Alex’s face.

She had only witnessed it a handful of times but it never failed to make the blood rush to her face and heat to her groin.

Entranced, Kelley found herself being pushed down on to the bed.

Alex stared down at her while slowly tugging the towel away and let the cloth hit the ground to pool at their feet.

Mouth dry, Kelley gripped the bedspread beneath her palms as her eyes raked down Alex’s form.

“Kelley.”

Alex’s voice echoed in her head as the forward sat in her lap. Fingers tangled in her hair and lips pressed against hers.

Her arms circled Alex’s lower back, still damp from the bath.

“Kelley.”

 Grabbing Kelley’s hand Alex guided it down her torso towards her dripping center, her throaty moans bouncing off the hotel room walls.

Kelley’s hazel eyes zeroed in on the wetness pooling in her fingers, the shine of Alex’s wedding ring in their intertwined hands.

“Kelley!”

Chest heaving, Kelley woke with a startle. Alex’s face was above hers in the dark room and where her hands were placed on Kelley’s arm and neck felt like it was burned.

She sprung upwards to shrug off the contact, leaving Alex frowning next to her. “Sorry, I thought you were having a bad dream.”

Catching her breath Kelley looked around the room to regain her senses. The phrase wet dream had become considerably more significant to her.


	8. Checked Out

The days following her … vivid dream, Kelley’s been completely checked out. Training sessions are a blur – she doesn’t retain anything. When she’s riding the bench for the Colombia game, all she can do is watch Alex with glazed eyes and a constant hum in her bones.

After a week of this, reality kicks her in the face – almost literally.

“Kelley!”

Either the warning was too late or the ball was directed towards her cheek on purpose because it doesn’t prepare her for the impact of the ball.

It wasn’t that hard but enough to snap her out of her frequent glances towards the other side of the arena where Alex was doing drills.

Kelley rubs at her cheek, shrugging off the heat of the embarrassing moment when she spots Tobin jogging towards her with a furrow in her brows. “I could have aimed higher but we kind of need you for this tournament.”

“Ya because I’ve been getting so many minutes.” Kelley snapped.

The taller brunette rolled her eyes, not taking it. “That’s not the only reason you’ve been so checked out lately.”

Eyes widening at Tobin’s tone, Kelley nearly gaped at her seriousness. “Alright fine, I’ll get it together.”

* * *

 

Seeing Tobin act so un-chill was pretty unsettling. It was enough to make her focus intensely on practice for the rest of the afternoon.

Her actions didn’t go unnoticed, as she felt a rush of hope when Jill nodded at her before walking in to the locker rooms.

Kelley waited for the crowd of exhausted players to walk ahead of her before walking over to the coach.

“Great work today O’hara.” Jill crossed her arms, a small smile on her lips.

Nodding, Kelley stood taller.

“We’ll start you off with the first 45 for Friday?”

Eyes bugging out of her head, she nearly stuttered. “Yes coach.”

Chuckling, Jill nodded at her before walking away.

Kelley watched her disappear down the tunnel before pumping her fist and danced towards the locker room.


	9. Chapter 9

Kelley was on cloud nine after that.

There was an extra bounce in her step, she felt weightless running down the field in practice, and her arms didn’t tire after her usual sets in the weight rooms.

But there was still something missing.

Something that had her pacing the hotel room with her arms crossed and her lips pressed into a thin line.

After the bath tub incident, Alex was spending most of her time in Tobin and Heather’s room – avoiding Kelley.

The freckled woman tried not to think about it but every time she stepped in to the bathroom she had to face away from the tub while she brushed her teeth, ignoring the unconscious clench of her thighs.

* * *

 

Crossing the room, Tobin opened the new message lighting up her phone screen.

Initially, her brows furrowed at the odd message but shook her head when she realized what it meant.

“Hey ‘lex, the team said there’s this awesome restaurant down the block. Wanna meet up with them?”

On the couch, Alex shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, nothing better to do anyway.”

* * *

 

Looking around for the 5th time, Alex whipped out her phone from her back pocket to text Tobin.

As soon as she walked in, she knew Tobin was lying because the team would be kicked out of such an extravagant place.

The spacious gourmet restaurant was not what Alex had envisioned when Tobin said the words team and restaurant in the same sentence.

Before she could send out the message, she froze at the familiar voice behind her.

When she turned around, she was glad that she chose to go with the knit sweater over a hoodie because standing in front of Kelley who was dressed in dark jeans with a button up and a jean jacket she still feels under dressed.

But it’s the nervous smile on Kelley’s face that makes her realize why Tobin looked at her with a grin before she went to get ready.

The team isn’t here, it’s just going to be her and Kelley.

Her eyes follow the shorter woman as she walks up to the hostess. “Reservations for Alex and Kelley.”

The suited man nodded his head before grabbing two menus and signals for them to follow.

The room feels a lot warmer when Kelley’s arms sticks out behind her to reach for Alex’s hand as they’re led to a secluded area of the restaurant. Kelley’s hand is smaller in hers but their fingers tangle together in a perfect fit – Kelley filling all the gaps.

The server stops them at a small table for two, making Alex gulp as Kelley pulls her chair back.

Just the two of them.

With a few phrases their server leaves, promising to return soon.

Kelley scratches the side of her head as she flips through the menu but mostly trying to gage Alex’s mood based on her squinted eyes above her own menu. Even with the chatter in the restaurant, the consistent tapping of fingers over the table irks Kelley.

The flop of Alex’s menu falling against the table gives Kelley a mini heart attack and her head drops down a fraction of a second before Alex’s gaze switches to her.

“This is a date right?”

Snapping her head up, Kelley swallows the lump in her throat that’s been there since she stepped in to the restaurant.

All the confidence she’s had for the last couple of days rushes through her blood immediately, giving her the courage to answer. “Yes.”

Alex nods in confirmation seaming content with the answer and pulls back the menu as she leans back in her chair.

Rolling her shoulders Kelley sits back in her chair as well, thinking that Alex will be the death of her.


End file.
